reason of many of them are made known to, and | slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the understood by them. stocks; that is, both senselessly and securely. O! but being come at the gates of hell. O! but when they see those gates set open for them. O! but when they see that that is their home, and that they must go in thither, then their peace and quietness flies away for ever. Then they roar like lions, yell like dragons, howl like dogs, and tremble at their judgment, as do the devils themselves. 0! when they see they must shoot the gulf and throat of hell! when they shall see that hell hath shut her ghastly jaws upon them, when they shall open their eyes and find themselves within the belly and bowels of hell! Then they will mourn, and weep,

ATTEN. Indeed this is a staggering dispensation. It is full of the wisdom and anger of God. And I believe, as you have said, that it is full of judgment to the world. Who would have imagined, that had not known Mr. Badman, and yet had seen him die, but that he had been a man of an holy life and conversation, since he died so stilly, so quietly, so like a lamb or a chrisom-child? Would they not, I say, have concluded that he was a righteous man? or that if they had known him and his life, yet to see him die so quietly, would they not have concluded that he had made his peace with God? Nay farther, if some had known that he had died in his sins, and yet that he had died so like a lamb, would they not have concluded that either God doth not know our sins, or that he likes them; or that he wants power, or will, or heart, or skill, to punish them; since Mr. Badman himself went from a sinful life so quietly, so peaceable, and so like a lamb as he did?

WISE. Without controversy, this is a heavy judgment of God upon wicked men; one goes to hell in peace, another goes to hell in trouble; one goes to hell, being sent thither by his own hands; another goes to hell, being sent thither by the hand of his companion; one goes thither with his eyes shut, and another goes thither with his eyes open; one goes thither roaring, and another goes thither boasting of heaven and happiness all the way he goes. Job xxi. 23. One goes thither like Mr. Badman himself, and others go thither as did his brethren. But above all, Mr. Badman's death, as to the manner of dying, is the fullest of snares and traps to wicked men; therefore, they that die as he are the greatest stumble to the world. They go, and go, they go on peaceably from youth to old age, and thence to the grave, and so to hell, without noise. They go as an ox goeth to the

and hack, and gnash their teeth for pain. But this must not be, or if it must, yet very rarely, till they are gone out of the sight and hearing of those mortals whom they do leave behind them alive in the world.

ATTEN. Well, my good neighbour Wiseman, I perceive that the sun grows low, and that you have come to a conclusion with Mr. Badman's life and death; and, therefore, I will take my leave of you. Only first, let me tell you, I am glad that I have met with you to-day, and that our hap was to fall in with Mr. Badman's state. I also thank you your freedom with me, in granting of me your reply to all my questions. I would only beg your prayers that God will give me much grace, that I may neither live nor die as did Mr. Badman.

for

WISE. My good neighbour Attentive, I wish your welfare in soul and body; and if aught that I have said of Mr. Badman's life and death may be of benefit unto you, I shall be heartily glad; only I desire you to thank God for it, and to pray heartily for me, that I with you may be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

ATTEN. Amen. Farewell.

WISE. I wish you heartily farewell.

OR, AN EXPOSITION OF THOSE WORDS IN THE SIXTEENTH OF LUKE, CONCERNING

THE RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR.

WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT.

Also, a Brief Discourse touching the profitableness of the Scriptures for our instruction in the way of righteousness, according to the tendency of the said parable.

BY THAT POOR AND CONTEMPTIBLE SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST, JOHN BUNYAN.

• The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.'-Ps. ix. 17.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.'—Re. xx. 15.
London: Printed by Ralph Wood, for M. Wright, at the King's Head in the Old Bailey, 1658.1

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

came from the unseen world-from the bosom of the Father-reveals them unto us. O! that we may not mistake that voice for thunder, which called upon a trembling world to 'HEAR HIM.'

perishes, and is consumed by the breath of his nostrils.' They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.'

How awful is that cry of anguish which has reached us from beyond the tomb, even from the infernal realms, and on which Bunyan, with his singular and rare ability, fixes our attention. It is the voice of one who had received his good things in this fleet- The rich man personates all the thoughtless and ing life; who had fared sumptuously every day, unconverted who die in their sins, his wealth can without providing for eternity, and now cries for a neither bribe death nor hell; he is stricken, and drop of water to cool his parched tongue. Plunged descends to misery with the bitter, but unavailing into unutterable, inconceivable, and eternal tor- regret of having neglected the great salvation. He ments, he pleads that the poor afflicted beggar, had taken no personal, prayerful pains to search who had lain at his gate, might be sent from the the sacred Scriptures for himself; he had disobeyed dead to warn his relatives, that they might escape, the gospel, lived in revelry, and carelessness of his and not aggravate his misery, by upbraiding him soul; he had ploughed iniquity and sown wickedas a cause of their destruction, by having neglectedness, and reaps the same. 'By the blast of God he to set them a pious example. He knows that there is no hope for his own wretched soul, and expresses no wish that his family should pay for masses to ease his pangs. No, such tomfooleries are limited to this insane world. His poor request is one drop of water, and a warning messenger to his relatives. The answer is most decisive-there is a great, an eternal gulf fixed-none can pass between heaven and hell; and as to your father's house, They have Moses and the prophets;' and now it may added, They have Jesus and his apostles; if they hear not them, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.' No; if Isaiah, with his mighty eloquence, again appeared among mortals, again would his cry be heard, Who hath believed our report?' 'What! seek the living among the dead? To the law, and to the testimony, saith God.'

be

The opinion universally prevails, although the voice of infinite wisdom has declared it false, that miracles, or a messenger from the invisible world could awake the dead in sin. The world's eyes are shut, and its ears are stopped from seeing and hearing that most illustrious celestial messenger of

1 There were nine editions of this book published during the Author's life; all those subsequent to the first have the following title:-Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul; discovering from the 16th of Luke the lamentable state of the damned: and may fitly serve as a warning word to sinners, both old and young, by faith in Jesus Christ, to avoid the same place of torment. With a discovery of the useful ness of the Scriptures as our safe-conduct for avoiding the torments of hell. By John Bunyan. London: Printed for F. Smith, at the Elephant and Castle, without Temple-bar.

Reader, these are solemn realities. He who At 1s. bound.'

This was the third volume that Bunyan published, and, with modest timidity, he shelters him

mercy-God manifest in the flesh'-who still speaks to us in his word. He revealed, and he alone could have revealed, these solemn, these heart-self under a strong recommendatory preface by his stirring facts-He performed the most astonishing miracles-His doctrines were truth-He required holiness of life to fit the soul for heaven; therefore He was despised, tortured, murdered. In the face of all this, the poor wretch cries, 'send Lazarus.' What refined cruelty! He had borne the cross and received the crown. Uncrown him, and send him back to lie at my brother's gate, and if he dares to tell him the truth, that my soul was in hell, even while the splendid funeral was carrying my body to the tomb, he will hurry him to death. Poor fool! are not thy kindred as hardened as thou wast? Send Lazarus from the dead! That, as Bunyan justly says, would be to make a new Bible, to improve the finished salvation. No, if they will not hear Moses and the prophets, our Lord and his apostles, they must all likewise perish. This is a very meagre outline of this solemn treatise; it is full of striking illustrations, eminently calculated to arouse the thoughtless, and to convey solid instruction to the thoughtful.

pastor, who, in the Grace Abounding, he calls holy
Mr. Gifford.' So popular was it, as to pass through
nine editions in the author's lifetime.1 The pre-
face, by John Gifford, was printed only with the
first edition. As it gives a very interesting account
of Bunyan, and his early labours in the ministry,
which has never been noticed by any of his biogra-
phers, and is extremely rare, it is here reprinted
from a fine copy in the British Museum, and must
prove interesting to every admirer of John Bunyan.
I close with two short extracts-may they leave an
abiding impression upon our minds. 'God will
have a time to meet with them that now do not
seek after him.' 'O! regard, regard, for the judg-
ment day is at hand, the graves are ready to fly
open, the trumpet is near the sounding, the sentence
will ere long be passed, and then,' it will be seen
whether we belong to the class of Dives, who pre-
ferred the world, or to that of Lazarus, who pre-
ferred Christ; and then, O then! time cannot be
recalled.
GEO. OFFOR.

PREFACE, BY THE REV. JOHN GIFFORD,

FASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AT BEDFORD, OF WHICH JOHN BUNYAN WAS A MEMBER.

TO THE READER.

Ir is sad to see how the most of men neglect their precious souls, turning their backs upon the glorious gospel, and little minding a crucified Jesus, when, in the meanwhile, their bodies are well provided for, their estates much regarded, and the things of this present life are highly prized, as if the darling was of less value than a clod of earth; an immortal soul, than a perishing body; a precious Saviour, than unsatisfying creatures. Yea, though they have been often wooed with gracious entreaties, glorious promises, and fresh bleeding wounds, to make choice of the better part, that shall never be taken from them; yet, alas! such influence hath this world, and the pleasures of it, and such is the blindness of their understandings, that they continue still to hunt after those things which cannot profit, nor be a help to them in the worst hour. Yea, that will prove no better than poison to their souls, and refuse that would be (if embraced) their happiness here, and their glory hereafter. Such a strange stupidity hath seized upon the hearts of men, that they will venture the loss of their immortal souls for a few dying comforts, and will expose themselves to endless misery for a moment's mirth, and short-lived pleasures.

But, certainly, a barn well fraught, a bag well filled, a back well clothed, and a body well fed, will prove but poor comforts when men come to die, when death shall not only separate their souls from their bodies, but both from their comforts. What will it then avail them that they have gained much? Or what will they give in exchange for their souls? Be wise, then (0 reader, to whose sight this may come), before it be too late, and thou repent, when repentance shall be hid from thine eyes; also it will be as a dagger to thine heart one day, to remember what a Christ, what a soul, what a heaven thou hast lost for a few pleasures, a little mirth, a short enjoyment of this present world; yea, and that after many warnings against many reproofs, and, notwithstanding the many tenders of a full Christ, instead of those empty vanities which thy soul closed with, hunted after, and would by no means be persuaded to part withal. No, but thou wouldst take thy time, and swim in

1 In the 'errata' to the first edition, Bunyan says-' At the first I thought to put out with this a discourse of the two covenants, which since I thought to put forth in a piece by itself.' This shows that his great work on the covenants was the fourth volume which he wrote. In the second edition, the author altered the arrangement of the text, by placing in his comment on ver. 28 a considerable part of what in the first edition formed the 'use and application.'